'Game of Thrones': When the screaming stops (reaction videos)

Share

The classic, parental dissuasion against groupthink — "If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?" — is, in most cases, still a solid, self-directing value.

Against the force of HBO's "Game of Thrones," however, the maxim holds no water. If all your friends watch "Game of Thrones," you might as well join them.

Either way there will be no escaping the sound of swords and screaming and slicing and gasping as evidenced by the fallout from Sunday's episode.

The readers saw it coming, but last night, the series — based on books by George R. R. Martin — treated television fans (SPOILER AHEAD) to an unexpected, old fashioned betrayal and massacre.

Since that time, "Game of Thrones" has been assaulting social media with stunned and horrified exasperation, memes and gifs galore, and a vivid hashtag — #redwedding — painting a picture in just 10 letters of every gruesome thing you never wanted to know.